Saw the Dr, rope repair on the way!

I told her everything, about H's mom, H, the pain, etc. She said that since I'm in constant pain (knee), and not getting normal sleep (pain and anxiety), my ability to handle every day stressors (H on a normal day) and situational anxiety (H and mother in law) makes it nearly impossible for me to react appropriately and is causing a vicious cycle of sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and...RAGE. Haha, as if I didn't already make that connection.

She gave me vicodin for the pain at night so I can sleep again. I will continue the celebrex for days along with tylenol.

She switched me to flouxetine (prozac), a very low dose, to help with the situational depression I'm experiencing.

DR said that getting better quality sleep should help me tremendously. She also said to limit my alcohol consumption to very little to none for a while and see it that helps. She also said that since even the recumbant bike is hard on the knee, to get into the therapy pool (at gym) a couple of times a week for movement until the surgery.

Dr reminded me that I can be certain of only ONE thing at a time. For now, that ONE thing is that after my surgery (healing and PT), I will not have the pain to deal with and that will help me to sleep like a normal person and be better able to function day to day.

She said that overall, sleeping and pain management will be the key component to helping me deal with the H/mother in law business. I told her I see a therapist and she said "Good". Dr is not a warm and fuzzy person, but I know she has my best interests at heart. Basically, she said that controlling pain and sleep will be the key. So that's what I'm focusing on. The other stuff, well, hopefully it will work out. At least I know what I can and will tolerate and what I cannot and won't tolerate.

Again, thank you all for your support these past couple of months. Pray I get some good sleep beginning tonight!

I'm hopinh this all works out. I know when I'm not getting enough sleep, molehills make Kilimanjaro look small.

Just a word of warning - husband was on fluoxetine - it's VERY HARD to wean yourself from it when the time comes - he was horrid to live with for about 3 months, then the paroxetine kicked in. It's possible, and it does a great job, but if you know ahead of time, it helps!

Just a word of warning - husband was on fluoxetine - it's VERY HARD to wean yourself from it when the time comes - he was horrid to live with for about 3 months, then the paroxetine kicked in. It's possible, and it does a great job, but if you know ahead of time, it helps!

Not everyone has a hard time going off prozac. I have done it for a couple of decades - on when depression is here, and off when it is better, and have never had problems with withdrawal. Actually going onto another SSRI medication like paxil should end withdrawal as they both work on the same mechanism in the brain. I had the worst time going off of effexor and one of the reasons for that is that is stays in the body for a very short time. Prozac stays for at least a week, so the withdrawal normally is not nearly as bad because the level lowers gradually. I hope you don't have any withdrawal, Jo, but it is something that you still need to take because the depression from the pain is a lot worse for most people. That is the source/root cause of a lot of my depression issues, and trying to live with the pain etc... is a lot worse than taking the prozac. Of course everyone reacts differently.

I am glad the doctor is sensible. When is your surgery? I hope that t is soon and you are pain free very soon! father in law had 2 knee replacements and his recovery was incredible - fasta nd far less painful than after other types of surgery. He was a new man after the new knees, simply because he wasn't in such pain anymore! I hope you have the same or even better results!

When is your surgery? I hope that t is soon and you are pain free very soon! father in law had 2 knee replacements and his recovery was incredible - fasta nd far less painful than after other types of surgery. He was a new man after the new knees, simply because he wasn't in such pain anymore! I hope you have the same or even better results!

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I hope so too!! The surgery is slated for January 9th, I'm excited!! Not for the surgery, obviously, but for the relief once everything is healed up. Yay.

Thanks for your thoughts on the Prozac. I've been off and on wellbutrin XL for about 5-6 years for SAD and situational depression. It helps but this last time, I felt very flat. I am VERY sensitive to medications overall, usually able to stay on a low dose, so we will see.

Well, SFR, I wasn't asleep. Apparently, I need to take the Vicodin a bit earlier than 10PM, because it takes a while to kick in and then I oversleep, like I did this morning.

I heard H banging around in the kitchen this morning, felt for the puppy, listened for easy child, and then checked my clock - 6:08 AM. I drifted back to sleep, glanced down the hallway and saw the lights from the kitchen so I just laid there for a few minutes, then glanced at my clock - 8:15!!!!

OMG, I was over an hour late for work! Thank you Vicodin for the sleep, but holy cow, I think I will take it at 9PM instead from now on. Yikes!

It definitely helped me get better sleep - now if I could get rid of H and his twitchy legs & gaspy breaths, the puppy with her midnight strolls around our bed and loud noises in the wee hours of the morning, I'd be all set. One step at a time.